Unwillingly she went and as she entered the precincts of the hermitage, the
forest blossomed into vernal beauty, and the south wind blew gently laden with the scent
of flowers, and kokilas burst into song, Love and Spring were both there to assist
Beauty. Disturbed by stirrings to which he had long been a stranger, Viswaamitra. opened
his eyes and saw a smiling damsel of surpassing beauty, who seemed the very soul of the
spring with its flowers and fragrance and song.
At this vision of soft voluptuousness a
white heat of anger surged through him as he recognised in it another temptation thrown in
his way by the envious gods, and he cursed the temptress: "O Rambha, for seeking to
tempt me who am striving to conquer anger and desire, be thou frozen to an image of stone
for ten thousand years."
But this explosion of rage made him see how
far he was from the fulfilment of his purpose and sadly he quitted the Himalayan
forests, and sought the solitude of the east. |
